The Legend of Zelda: Parallel to Majora
by Firelawd
Summary: Cover art by Ahr0,   *Post-Ocarina of Time. Child Timeline* A heat wave has hit Termina, and it shows no sign of letting up. Link and Skull Kid work to find their way around their adversary's ways in Link's most psychologically challenging adventure yet.
1. The Untold

Prologue -

Many have told this story. Many have heard this story. I am one of the few who witnessed it. My name is Zelda Hyrule, daughter of Daphne Hyrule, the king of this blessed land. Many years ago, a wicked man of the desert, corrupted by greed and undeserved power, came to my trusting father, falsely pledging his loyalty to him.

After a series of events mainly caused by me, this man named Ganondorf killed my father, invading the Sacred Realm and plaguing my home with his dark magic. I went into hiding, and seven years later a young boy brought Ganondorf down.

This boy, the true hero of Hyrule, brought peace to our people, yet, his story went untold throughout the land, their savior was nameless to them. For my people, the one who saved them only went by "The Hero of Time", no one knew his true identity. His name is Link, and he is the truest friend I have ever known.

So many years ago, before the dark age, mere hours before Ganondorf betrays my kingdom, that is when Link's final journey begins. I have no more to tell you now, for what happens next is far beyond my knowledge, only the Gods could tell you.

Chapter 1: The Untold -

Link's eyes opened, everything was quiete except for the sound of his fairy's wings flying through the air and echoing throughout the chamber. His fairy, Navi, a small white ball of light with two large upper wings and two small lower wings, swung around to face him. Both of them were quiete.

It had been mere seconds since Link had entered the Temple of Time, and laid his hands on the Master Sword, but he felt the endless hours of battle and struggle from seven years in the future weighing down on his shoulders. In reality, that would never happen. Link realized he could not save Hyrule, only create another reality in which he saved Hyrule, and that in the life he lived now, the kingdom was doomed.

In truth, he had never pulled the Master Sword from it's pedastal, therefore, never opened the Sacred Realm, and Ganondorf would overpower Hyrule, only without the Triforce of Power, so he could not be all powerful, and would be limited to only Hyrule. Many of the people would flee, several others would not be so lucky.

Link closed his eyes again, wishing he could only rest for a while, but he knew that even now Ganondorf's men were raiding the castle, Zelda had escaped mere minutes ago, and soon, the soldiers would be overpowered. Navi flew in close to his face, as if to hug him.

Her high pitched voice usually brought cheer to any situation, this time was different. "We could go back to the forest, do you want to see Saria?" Link remained silent, his hands still gripping the hilt of the Master Sword. "Or the ranch, I'm sure Talon and Malon are packing up to leave right now, we could say good-bye to them."

Link finally released the sword, "Go Navi."

Navi stopped her movement for a while and just floated, "What?"

"I said go Navi," Link repeated, "You've seen what Ganondorf does to the faries. You saw how faded the light on Mido's was. I don't want that for you, go to the Lost Woods, as deep as you can go. Find a place to live, I'm sure there are plent other loose fairies out there, just go. If we are supposed to find each other again, we will."

Without another word, Navi slowly flew up to the large open windo at the top of the chamber, she looked back once, and flew through the grating out of Link's sight.

Link sighed and walked to the entrance of the temple, he stopped short of the door, hearing female voices outside, "If it were cursed it wouldn't be a place of worship, now get in there and open that door!" The voices were female, but lower, Link could tell they were Gerudo. He pulled out a small clear gem with a red core, Din's Fire. Link calmly walked out of the Temple and into the court-yard, where several Gerudo clad in the typical purple were lined up in front of one of the higher class white clothed women.

"What's this," their leader inquired looking at Link, "a kid? You best run home to you parents child."

Wordless, Link strolled down the staircase, holding Din's Fire between his index finger and thumb, and put on his best 'helpless child voice', "What're you guys doing?"

"The Gerudo pulled out a long curved sword, no questions kid, walk slowly past us and then run back into town. I'd have no shame in putting you down right now."

It took some will-power for Link not to smile as he replied, "But my mommy and daddy are in the temple, they say we have to keep Princess Zelda safe in there."

It all happened in a matter of five seconds. The mention of Zelda in the Temple of Time made all the Gerudo look eagerly into the entrance, Link pushed his way into the middle of the crowd, and in the middle of one Gerudo swinging a blow that would ultimately end his life, Link unleashed Din's Fire. Several Gerudo ran at the sight of the flame, a couple were burned and ran, one in particular didn't make it even one step.

The whole incident left a circle of burnt grass around Link, and one unidentifiable body. "Never can get used to that, huh Navi?" Link asked, the dead silence made his heart sink. He made his way into Castle Town, the usual rush everyone was in had turned into an all out frenzy, there was one of Ganondorf's men once in a while, but most injuries were from panicked city folk. Link somehow made his way to the entrance of the market, and what he saw broke his heart a little more. Link witnessed five Iron Knuckles, side by side, dismantling the draw-bridge that would usually close at night fall.

Speeding past the Iron Knuckles, Link made straight for Lon Lon Ranch in a sprint. Link was both relieved and saddened when he saw Talon and Ingo hurriedly loading crates of food and milk onto a wagon, arguing heatedly about something. Link ran up to them and Talon stopped, "Well if it ain't the fairy-kid again. It's best we all find someplace discreet to go, would you like to come with us?"

"No, my parents are waiting for me just a ways from here," Link lied, "Is Malon here?"

"Well I'd be worrying my tookus off if she weren't," chuckled Talon, "right over in the stable."

"Thanks." Link walked into the stable and shut the door behind him, "Malon?" The small red haired girl was sitting by a group of horses crying. "What's the matter?" Link asked, semi-knowing the answer but feeling the need to ask anyways."

"The horses are going to be left for Ganondorf," she sputtered between sobs, "we can only take two and that's to pull the wagon. Worst of all, Epona's just a baby, so she can't pull, she's gonna have to stay behind."

Link sat next to her and patted her back, "Don't cry Malon, as soon as you guys leave, I'll set all the horses free, and I'll take special care of Epona my self."

Malon wiped the tears from her blood-shot eyes, "...Really?"

"You have my word."

"Thank you!" Malon yelled trying to hug Link, but it turned into a tackle really.

At that very moment Talon's voice rang outside, "Malon, we're leaving. Now!"

And in moments, Link was alone again. He opened all the gates, and managed to get all the horses running out of the Ranch and into Hyrule field. A small red mare, named Epona, was about to chase after them but Link quickly used the Ocarina of Time to play a familiar tune, bringing the horse calmly back to him.

"Hey girl," he says patting her neck, he was about to say 'remember me?' but then he realized she couldn't remember what didn't happen. He guided her across the field, finally coming up to a barely visible entrance through Hyrule's surrounding wall. The entrance to the Kokiri Forest.

Link walked the horse across the bridge and into his home village, expecting to see Deku Baba's, Scrubs, and Skultulas raiding the place. Not a single monster in sight, several Kokiri were running by the stream, playing. Everything was peaceful. Although everything was quiet, if there was to be an invasion, Link knew exactly where it would come from, the Forest Temple.

Still taking Epona with him, Link entered the Lost Woods, where every tree looked identical, and the sun barely broke through. Link followed all the trees he had carved a small triangle to, knowing they'd lead him to the Sacred Meadow. Withing minutes he came running up to the entrance of the Forest Temple, his friend Saria sitting on a withered stump.

Saria stood up, "I know what you're feeling Link. You feel as if you need to be somewhere else, like you can hear someone calling for your help. But you feel an obligation to stay. Don't, you've done all you can for Hyrule, I want you to help yourself now."

This left Link more than a little surprised, "How do you-"

Saria smiled, "I'm the Sage of the Forest, remember? You awakened me as a Sage in the future, and no matter where we may be in time, my soul is the soul of a Sage, and I know it now. I knew it the moment you laid your hands on the Master Sword."

Link nodded, and looked off into the forest, the unexplored regions, where even the Kokiri never dared to enter. The moment he looked back, Saria was gone, as was the temple, he was lost within the Lost Woods, with nothing to guide him but instinct. After minutes of wandering, Link heard a noise, it sounded like a fairy flying through the air. Without thinking, he ran forward a few feet, "Navi!" A few feet is all it takes in the Lost Woods.

He looked behind him, no horse in sight. What would Malon say? Out of the dead silence came a laugh, a mischivious laugh. Link looked all around, and yet he couldn't spot anyone or anything. The laugh came again, this time Link knew he wasn't imagining it, and became frightened. He unsheathed the Kokiri Sword and kept looking around helplessly. Everything went dark, and Link felt his body become paralyzed. Within moments, Link's every sense went numb, and he blacked out.

This is the beginning of the end, the fate of several worlds rests on one young boys shoulders, and this time, not even the God's can help him.


	2. Daemon

Chapter 2: Daemon

Link awoke, but kept his eyes closed, trying to forget about the pounding pain in his head. Link's hearing began to come back, he heard several muffled voices as if through a wodden door.

"Goddess of Time, help us!"

"It's just a heat wave, you're imagining things!"

"It really has gotten bigger hasn't it?"

"Don't speak like that around the children!"

"It'll pass... right? I'm sure it will, it has to."

Finally Link opened his eyes, he was in a strange room, much like a sewer. An imp dressed in red and yellow was sitting on a railing watching him.

"Finally awake?" asked the Skull Kid.

"Uhn, who are you?" Link knew the question was useless, for Skull Kids had no names, but he was in too much pain to care about looking stupid at the moment. The Skull Kid laughed a cheerful laugh, pulled out a flute, and began to play. At first Link felt like yelling at the Skull Kid to quiet down, but then recognized the song the Skull Kid was playing. "Saria's Song...? Hey! You're the Skull Kid I sold the Skull Mask to."

"Hee hee! You're not as smart as you look." The Skull Kid laughed loudly at his own joke. Link would have been offended, but he knew it was only in the Skull Kid's nature to be rude and light hearted.

"Where are we anyway," asked Link, "the last place I remember being is in the Lost Woods."

"I've been here for a few days," the Skull Kid answered, "I went out to the woods to play with my fairies and I found you're body."

"Well, I guess I should be grateful- wait, fairies? I thought only Kokiri could have a fairy, and only one at that."

The Skull Kid stopped, "You're a Hylian and you had a fairy. Besides, I wasn't given these fairies, we found eachother. We're not partners, we're friends."

"Sorry, where are they anyway?" Link looked around, not a fairy in sight.

"Well, when we found you, I heard someone laugh, then Tatle, the girl fairy, disappeared. I haven't seen her since. This is Tael."

A purple fairy flew out from behind the Skull Kid and flew up and down a few times, as if to say hi.

Link finally stood up, "Well, I still don't know _where_ we are."

The Skull Kid jumped off the railing and ran over to the door, "You have to see it! It's like another world entirely. They don't like me though, so I'll wait here."

Link walked over to the large wooden double-door and pushed it open. Instantly he was hit with heat, the temperature felt like it was raised by a couple dozen degrees. Looking up, Link saw the sun directly above, not it's usual bright yellow, but a dull blazing orange, and it seemed bigger than usual.

Link saw a Skull Kid run by and called after him, "Hey! I thought you said you were going to wait back there?"

The Skull Kid turned around and gave Link a dark glare, "I haven't even talked to you today Daemon, you must be going crazy." And the Skull Kid ran off once more, leaving the town through the Southern Gate.

"Daemon?" Link wondered aloud.

Link tried to follow after the Skull Kid but was instantly stopped by what looked exactly like a Hylian guard, "Whoa kid, stop right there. There's mosters out there, I can't let you past without either some form of defense or an adult."

"What," Link said dumbfounded, "can't you see my-" reaching back, Link realized that both the Kokiri Sword and Hylian Shield were gone. He felt the rest of his pockets, almost everything was stolen exept for his empty wallet, and the Fairy Slingshot. He glared back in the direction of the tower he had come out of.

Link busted back into the underground room, "You thieving little-"

"Whoa!" The Skull Kid cut Link off, "I thought you were just going to check out the town, not get a mental illness and come back to try and kill me!"

"Give me my money and weapons back," Link said sternly, "I will have no trouble getting them back from you with or without my sword."

"First of all," the Skull Kid said, balancing on a small box with one foot, "I left you the way I found you. Trust me, if you did have all that stuff, I would have stolen it, but all you had was no money and a rickety old sling-shot. My flute makes a better weapon than that thing I bet. And second of all, aren't you going to ask me about the town out there. How everyone looks almost exactly like others in Hyrule?"

"What are you talking about?" Link said, disregarding the loss of his sword and other items, "The only person I saw was a Hylian guard and another Skull Kid."

The Skull Kid laughed, "That wasn't a Hylian guard. I told you, this is another world entirely."

"Yeah, I know. It usually feels like that when exploring new regions, but-"

"No!" The Skull Kid exclaimed, obviously having fun taunting Link, "I mean it's another dimension."

Link stopped short, and idly peeked out the door once more. He saw several people, and all of them did, indeed, look identical to residents of Castle Town and Kakariko Village from Hyrule. Link looked up, several carpenters were working on a tower, and off to the side was a banner that read: "Clock Town - Carnival of Time in three days! Indigo-gos performing and much more!"

"You're getting boring," said Skull Kid running past Link, "I'm going back out into the field."

"Wait!" Link called after him but he was already gone. Link stepped back out into Clock Town and looked around. If he was going anywhere, he would need a sword. Link walked up to a carpenter, "Excuse me, do you know of any shops around here that may sell a sword?"

"What do you mean Daemon," inquired the carpenter, "I thought you already had a sword, and even if you didn't, you're visiting that curiosity shop all the time, you know very well they sell swords once in a while."

"Oh... okay." Link began to walk away, apparently this whole 'Daemon' character was Link's 'clone' so to speak from this world.

Link finally came across a building labled 'The Stock Pot Inn'. Upon walking in, a red haird woman at the desk gave Link a questioning look, "I thought you were up in your room Daemon? You must have walked out without my knowing."

Link decided it was about time he met this 'Daemon'. "Ah yes, sorry..." Link squinted to read her name-tag from afar, "Anju. Also, I lost my room key, you wouldn't happen to have a spare would you?"

"Of course I do, silly boy," said Anju reacing under the counter, "if you don't find the original though, it's going to have to come out of your own money by the time you leave." Link took the key, thanked Anju, and began to walk towards the staircase, then Anju addressed him again, "You didn't happen to find any use for that mask did you?"

Link stopped and looked back, "Mask?"

"Yes, the one you said you found out in the field."

Link paused, "Er, no, I haven't found any use for it yet."

Link continued up the stairs. He was glad no one else was in the hall way, it would have been awkward to be seen trying the key in every door until he found the right room. Link carefully stepped into the room, and what he saw made his heart leap. The window was wide open, and there was no one in the room. Lying against the wall though, was a boomerang, a bomb bag, a couple Deku Nuts, the Hylian Shield, and the Kokiri Sword.

Link walked in and locked the door behind him, further inspecting the room. There were two beds, one had obviously been slept in, the spare had items all over it. A metal shield that looked almost like the Hylian, only the design was a bit more complicated and the Triforce and red bird designs had switched places was at the bed post. There was also a sword that looked a lot like the Kokiri Sword only much sharper. And several masks were spread out over the bed, a couple familiar to Link from when he was hired by the Happy Mask Salesman back in Hyrule, but most were very alien to him.

Link turned to exit the hotel room when he heard footsteps, then a key scraping metal as it entered the key-hole. With nowhere to hide, Link stood frozen in front of the door.


	3. An Unlikely Union

Chapter 3 - An Unlikely Union

The door opened and Link found himself staring back into his own eyes. The boy before him was almost identical to him, with only a few differences. The tunic was slightly darker, his eyes were green instead of blue, he was right handed, and his hair was darker. Link didn't know how to react, but apparently, Daemon had seen Link before.

Daemon glared, "Found your way here finally huh?"

Link stared blankly at Daemon for a second, "Uh... what do you mean?"

Daemon didn't answer, simply pushed past Link and grabbed his sword and shield. Strapping the sheath around his back, Daemon walked back to the door, "Grab your weapons and meet me on the roof."

"Wait, _you're _the one who stole my things?" Link asked with a tinge of anger in his voice. Daemon didn't answer, walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. Link quickly took the Kokiri Sword and Hylian Shield and walked out into the hall. He continued down the hall until he found a door without a number on it. Outside Daemon was waiting for him, leanin against a large bell. Link unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Daemon, "I don't want any trouble with you, help me find a way back to Hyrule and I'll never trouble you again."

Daemon chuckled, "Why would I want to do that, when I can just get rid of you now." He stayed leaning against the bell, both his sword and shield still on his back.

Link took out the shield as well, "Why on earth do you feel this hatred for me? What is it I've done to you?"

Daemon finally stood upright and unsheathed his sword, taking the shield completely off and leaving it leaning up against the railing, "Nothing. No one's done anything to me. But I do know of your kingdom, Hyrule, and it is a much richer land than this. I will rule it, and leave this world in ashes as an example."

Link looked up at the sun, a bead of sweat found it's way to his eye. Daemon saw Link's eye squint from the sting and with amazing reflexes, lunged forward. Link held up the shield just in time, but it was bent under the might of Daemon, "How are you doing this!"

"It's really simple actually," said Daemon, taking Link's shield and tossing it over the edge of the building, "a mask, one mask. I've heard legends of it from a traveling mask salesman, and I've been searching for it ever since. Little did I know that sneaky salesman was actually carrying it himself. I discovered this when he came to Termina again, so, I stole it. It wasn't difficult really, like stealing a flower from the ground, that salesman can't defend himself if his life depended on it, I proved that."

Link raised his sword horizontally to be ready for any oncoming attack, "You killed the Happy Mask Salesman! For how long have you known Hyrule, and wanted to take it over?"

Daemon stopped walking casually and looked Link in the eye, "Link. I'm confident I can kill you now, but even then, I'm not stupid enought to reveal everything to you. Now defend yourself." Daemon lunged forward again, Link was ready. The two clashed swords for a few moments and Link found himself out of breath.

Daemon grabbed Link by the neck and forced him onto his back, "My Razor Sword can cut through any metal, your pathetic scrap is useless against me." He held Link's wrist down and brought the Razor Sword down on the Kokiri Sword with both his hands. Link was left with a hilt, bent pieces of metal flew in every direction, all of it rendered useless.

"I will create a new age the likes of which no man has ever seen," Daemon said letting Link stand again. "I will resurrect great dark beings, and they will all have no choice but to serve under me with the power of the mask." Daemon raised the sword high above his head, Link closed his eyes, waiting for what was next, but nothing came. When Link opened his eyes, he saw Daemon looking dumbfoundedly at his hand, then looking up. Link looked up as well, seeing a large bird taking the sword, sheathe and all, out of sight.

Daemon looked back at Link, "I must retrieve my sword, you're very lucky. You'd best get running, because I will find you again." Daemon jumped off the roof and began strolling back towards Southern Clock Town.

Link stood up and looked around, pieces of the Kokiri Sword layed everywhere, and the Hylian shield was bent beyond use on the ground below. Looking down at the eastern gate, Link saw the guard was speaking with Anju about something, and took advantage. He was speeding out the gate when he heard Anju's voice, "There he is! Get him!" Anju must have noticed the difference between Link and Daemon, and was reporting Link to the guards.

Link sprinted out into Termina Field, it was big, but Link didn't feel overwhelmed, for Hyrule Field was much larger than this. Directly in front of him was what looked like a barren wasteland, on his left, a snowy wasteland, and on his right, the woods. Link took his best chance and went in the direction of the woods. He saw the Skull Kid playing with Tael in the tall grass and ran over to him.

"Skull Kid! You must help me, my copy is going to destroy this land and take over Hyrule, this affects you as well."

The Skull Kid looked up at Link, his expression not gaining any seriousness, "Oh please, I can escape Termina in no time, and I live in the Lost Woods, nobody's rule over Hyrule will affect me."

Link grabbed the Skull Kid's shoulder, "He's the one who took Tatl."

The Skull Kid hesitated, the pulled out of Link's grasp, "You're sure?"

"Almost certain."

The Skull Kid looked down, thinking hard, but Tael flew right over to Link, "I'll help however I can, I want to see my sister again."

That seemed to make up Skull Kid's mind, "Okay, I'll help, what do I do?"

"Well," said Link, "first of all, we need a safe place, where Daemon can't find us."

This made Skull Kid smile, "Oh! I know! Daemon would never think of looking in the Goron Village."

"Gorons?" Link looked surprised, there are Gorons here?"

"Oh yeah, Deku Scrubs, Zoras, and Gerudos too," said Skull Kid stepping out of the tall grass, "the Goron Village is being flooded though, because they live under Snowhead Mountain, and the heat wave is causing the snow and ice to melt. Daemon would never guess we're there."

When the Skull Kid said 'heat wave' Link looked up at the sun, taking a moment to decide not to tell the Skull Kid Daemon's plans for burning Termina to a crisp. "Okay," said Link, "what about a weapon for me? Daemon destroyed my sword."

This also made Skull Kid smile, he obviously enjoyed being as useful as he was being, "Just outside the Goron Village is a little hut, the people in that hut can forge a sword if you give them the right materials, just a bit of steel is all. That's where Daemon got his."

"Okay," Link started heading north, "how much is it to get a sword forged?"

Skull Kid stopped walking, "...Well, it's one hundred rupees to get an already forged sword upgraded, so I'm guessing it'd be pretty expensive."

Link stopped walking as well, remembering he was completely broke, "Any ways to make money fast?"

Skull Kid looked down, pulled up a bush of grass and pulled out a single green rupee, "Hey, that was pretty lucky, it usually takes about ten tries to find one."

Link put his face in his hands, "That's not very quick Skull Kid."

Skull Kid looked down in shame, and pulled out a small stone, "I stole this moon tear from an old man a long time ago, we could sell it to the man running the curiosity shop."

This was the second time Link heard about the curiosity shop, "Is this shop... official?"

"Well, yes. But that's just because the mayor doesn't look into matters like that much, he doesn't think it's important. All in all, yes, the curiosity shop buys and sells stolen goods. I think the owner even trained a bird to go out and steal things from random people."

The bird! Link remembered the bird that had stolen Daemon's razor sword. "You know what Skull Kid, I think it's about time we visited this curiosity shop."

Skull Kid lent Link the Skull Mask to wear as they both entered Clock Town through the western gate. Skull Kid guided Link to the front of the curiosity shop, "You can go on ahead," said the imp handing Link the moon tear, "the owner caught me trying to steal a bomb bag from him once."

When Link entered the shop, the owner smirked, "Hey Daemon, lose your sword again already? Sorry to say, that bird must have taken it for good this time, 'cause I don't have it."

"I came here to sell, not buy," Link said, doing his best not to reveal his blue eyes to the owner.

"Oh? What have you got for me?" the owner asked leaning over the counter. Link pulled out the moon tear and set it on the counter. After picking it up and inspecting it a bit, the owner put it back down, "This is a pretty good one, and moon tears a pretty rare nowadays. I'm feeling especially generous today, how about... two hundred rupees?"

Link knew about bargaining, and this was as good as it was going to get, "Sold."

The owner almost looked surprised, "Really Daemon? No death threat for more money? You're softening up boy. Here you go."

Link left the shop to find the Skull Kid trying to pull Tael out of the grasp of a small white dog. "Stop fooling around guys, we have to go, now!" Link called already heading for the western gate. Skull Kid looked up and let go of Tael, sending the dog flying backwards.

Once the three of them were back on the trail of Termina Field, Skull Kid hovered over Link's shoulder, "How much money did you get?"

"Two hundred rupees, I just hope it's enough. Now all we need is a bit of steel, that shouldn't be too hard, any ideas?" The Skull Kid slowly started to reach into his pocket. "Seriously Skull Kid? Is everything you own stolen?"

"Well... not everything." said the Skull Kid pulling out his flute.


	4. The Wind Mage

Chapter 4 - Titlehere

Daemon walked out the eastern gate of Clock Town, heading for the Ikana Canyon. Once there, he took out a heart shaped mask with large yellow eyes, four spikes on either side and two on the top. He held the mask up for a moment, looking on the inside, the put it over his face. Instantly he heard the voices of the tribe that had used the mask for hexing, and the screams of the tribe's victims. Blocking out the voices, Daemon waited, just waited.

Eventually, a heavy wind started to blow through the canyon, and Daemon knew exactly what it meant. Closing his eyes, Daemon let the voices take over, if only for a few minutes, and felt himself yelling words in a language he had never heard, a language no one had heard for centuries. The winds started to circle, until they became a black vortex. The whirlwind raged for about thirty seconds, then all went silent.

Standing where the vortex had been, was a person with pale skin, white hair, and a purple cloak. This being looked at Daemon, who had taken off Majora's Mask, and bowed his head slightly, "That mask has wondrous powers, why would you bring me back young hero?"

"I am not who you think I am," said Daemon, "the one who cut you down has long since been dead, but he has a descendant, and that descendant is in this world now. You have two options, serve under me and you will have your revenge, or do not serve, and I will kill you again. What will it be... Vaati?"

"Are you sure you want to do this," asked Link as he and Skull Kid walked up the short staircase of the small hut in the Mountain Village, "I'm sure we can find steel somewhere else easily. His flute is supposed to be a Skull Kid's most treasured belonging."

"I'd gladly give it up to save Tatl." The Skull Kid non-hesitantly opening the door.

The shop owner was up in a flash, called for his assistant to fetch them some coffee, and chose Link to talk to, "Now then, what can I help you two with?"

"Three!" Tael called from behind them, but the owner didn't seem to notice.

"I was wondering if you could forge us a sword," said Link taking the Skull Kid's flute and placing it on the counter, "from this."

The shop owner picked up the flute and examined it, "Well, if you have twelve hours and one hundred and fifty rupees, I sure can."

"Perfect," said Link laying down the money, "we'll be back in the morning."

"Hold on," said the owner, taking three cups of coffee from his assistant and handing them to Link and the Skull Kid, who merely examined it as if it were a foreign substance, "let me explain a few things to you first. All swords we forge here, either from scrap or as an upgrade, we make them special, with an extra sharp edge, our most common work is the Razor Sword. Now, with all these swords, strike them against something that gives any resistance, and they'll be dulled back down on the hundredth strike."

Link hesitated, "Really? What about the Razor Sword you gave to... my brother?"

"Ah, yes," said the owner, "I thought I recognized you. And yes, even your brother's sword will dull after he's used it enough."

"That's good to know," said Link walking out the front door. Once outside, he turned to the Skull Kid, "Now, about the Goron Village."

Skull Kid hesitated, realizing something, "Uh, they're all inside taking shelter from the flood, and you need a Goron to get in."

"Ugh! Are you kidding me? Are you sure all of them are inside?"

"Well, there is one who may not be," said the Skull Kid, "his name is Darmani, he's a Goron warrior. From what I've heard, the Gorons have sent him out to make a barricade to stop the main waterflow from Snowhead."

As the two of them continued out of the Mountain Village, Link noticed the ground become softer, and his boots were getting wet. There was a small area just before the Goron Village with two small hills serving as islands, and three bridged connecting them. The water that usually flowed about a meter below the bridges was now a foot above them. Skull Kid and Link waded across the bridges, making their way to the Goron Village, while Tael floated safely above them.

"I've been meaning to ask," said Link to Skull Kid, "when you found me passed out in the Lost Woods, why did you save me?"

"Well, I was going to steal from you, but when I saw you had nothing, something was telling me to bring you to Clock Town. Some voice in my head was telling me to take you, I guess I know why now."

Link laughed lightly to himself, "And you actually did it? Since when do you do what you're told Skull Kid?"

Skull Kid laughed as well, maybe a bit louder than necessary, "Only if it's not authority."

They came to the Goron Village, and almost everything was underwater. On the far side of the village was a cliff, the sound of the water running of the cliff roared. Although the water had to flow through the Mountain Village before it could reach the Goron Village, it seemed the Goron Village was effected worst. It was probably because there was a land drop in the area with a concrete ground, instead of the ground simply being flat dirt in the Mountain Village.

"How do you suppose we try to get in?" asked Link, looking for some kind of entrance.

"The only way in is through a door in the lower area," said Skull Kid looking over the edge, "I don't suppose we could take a dive and knock?"

"No," said Link, "The Gorons wouldn't risk letting too much water through. Not if they're as smart as the Gorons I know. If the entrance is down there, we can't really do much but wait for the Goron Warrior to succeed in making the barricade then it'd only be a matter of minutes for the water to drain off that cliff."

The Skull Kid looked back at the Mountain Village, "What if we find a way to stop the waterflow, not by barricading it, but returning cold to the peak of the mountain?"

"How on earth do you plan on doing that?" asked Link.

"Well, we could pay the Great Fairy a visit, maybe she could help us."

"You know what Skull Kid," said Link, "that's actually a really good idea, where is the Great Fairy?"

Skull Kid's face expression changed from excited to hesitant once more, Link was starting to get sick of that look, "Well... it's at the top of Snowhead."

Link didn't seem bothered as Skull Kid, he was used to having to go through a lot of obstacles to reach the goal he had originally set, "Alright, in that case, we head out for Snowhead." The two of them started heading back for the Mountain Village, and Link looked up for a second. The wind, for a split second, felt as if it had changed into opposite directions. Maybe he was just imagining things.

Daemon and Vaati were standing at the top of the Stone Tower, looking over the vast landscape below them. Finally, Daemon spoke, "Did you find them."

"Yes. They are in the Snowhead area. I don't think we need worry much, they can easily get themselves killed without our assistance." said Vaati, smirking.

"Your overconfident Vaati," said Daemon, "I would have figured you'd learned by what happened last time. If I did my studies correctly, you were beaten three times."

Vaati's smirk vanished, and his expression went dark, "That was different. They all had the Four Sword, and two out of those three times it was four against one. This time, we have the stronger power, and we have him outnumbered, unless you count that useless Skull Kid."

Daemon turned around and faced Vaati, "That is no reason to not take any of this seriously. The minute you start slacking off, is the minute Link begins to win. Now, I want you to go to Snowhead and see if you can't take care of him yourself. As insurance, in case you fail, I have contact with someone from Hyrule who can help us. I'm meeting him in the crossover from Hyrule to Termina later today."

"Who is he," asked Vaati, "It can't be... Ganon!"

Daemon laughed, "No, he is too careless, that fool would ruin everything. You are close though, very close."

Vaati went back to looking over the Ikana landscape, "What do you mean by fail? If Link succeeds, or if I die?"

"If you're worried about me killing you if you come back from a failure," said Daemon, "I'm not like Ganondorf, Agahnim, or even you. I'm smarter, keeping you alive gives me more of a chance of success. That is, until you start betraying me, but if you do, I can sense it early on, and I will not hesitate to kill you."

Vaati was quiet for a moment, trying to think of what to say, then simply responded with, "Yes master." Then, he disappeared in the wind, which changed direction to the north-west.


	5. Blizzard of Four Shadows

Chapter 5 - Blizzard of Four Shadows

As Link and Skull Kid made their way up to Snowhead, the water was no longer just soaked into the ground. Eventually, they found themselves trudging up a small, ever-growing, stream.

Link stopped walking and held his arm out to stop Skull Kid, who protested, "Hey! What're you-"

"Shh." They both stood still. Besides the water stream, all was silent, until a scratching sound came from behind. And another on the right.

"Wh-what is that?" asked Skull Kid, actually frightened now.

As if to answer his question, a blue Tektite jumped from the ground at Link. Link reached for his sword, which wasn't there. He dodged out of the way just in time, tackling Skull Kid to the ground with him. Tael flew several meters above them to stay out of reach of the Tektite.

The Tektite was just about to lung at them again when a large boulder crushed it. It was a Goron, not Darmani, but a Goron nonetheless, "Those nasty Tektites have been giving us trouble for quite some time now."

"Thank you," said Link, bowing his head a little to the Goron, "but why aren't you back at the Goron Village, taking shelter with the others?"

"When Darmani didn't return, they sent me to find him," said the Goron his mood changing to irritated, "and find him I did. He's frozen in ice and I can't break him out! I tried for the idea of using a keg, but the shop owner was missing and he took his entire stock with him! I was just about to head to Clock Town to buy one from one of my brothers, but then I was attacked by a horde of Tektites, just like you."

Skull Kid poked his head out from behind Link, "'You were looking for Darmani' probably would have been a short enough answer." Then Skull Kid jumped as if he had just seen a ghost, "Oh yeah! There's a fire arrow in the Snow-head Temple! Maybe we could use that. I know a shortcut that leads almost directly to it, with only a couple rooms between."

"Great," said Link, "The Goron can go back to his village and tell the other Gorons that we're getting Darmani and want to use their village as a hideout. Skull Kid, it sounds like you know your way around the Snow-head Temple, so you can go get the fire arrow. I need to find a bow, the arrows are useless without one unless you're just using them for a tooth pick."

A voice came from the direction Link and Skull Kid had come, "I don't think you need to worry about that just yet." The three of them turned, and there was Vaati, standing with his hands casually at his sides, "I need not even try, you're without a sword, aren't you... hero?"

The Goron obviously had never seen or heard of Vaati, and took him as a non-threat, charging at Vaati only to be knocked back against a wall and falling unconscious.

Skull Kid, frightened quite out of his mind, decided it'd be a good idea to throw a snowball at Vaati. As it turned out, this was not a good idea. Vaati sent Skull Kid flying in the opposite direction he had thrown the Goron, leaving only Link.

"You're next, boy." Vaati smiled at the idea of throwing Link into the blizzard obscured abyss of Snowhead as he began charging a green energy ball in his hand.

Without hardly any time to think, Link ran under a dead tree, took a good sized stick and swung around with it in perfect time to send the ball back at Vaati. Vaati was knocked back against the stone wall and the stick broke in two, leaving a sharp, burnt black edge. Vaati tried standing back up, but Link didn't allow him any recovery time and lunged at Vaati with the stick, stabbing straight into the shoulder.

Vaati pulled the broken off pieces of wood out, and used a quick spell to mend his shoulder, but he was angry. "You know what Link," said Vaati, beginning to circle around Link, "I've dealt with one like you, three actually," he stopped and looked up in thought, "maybe nine, it depends how you look at it. The thing is though, none of them were quite like you. They'll come at me from all directions, they'll attack in coordinated formation, or it'll just be one boy fighting me one to one, but none fought like you. I see you strafe, half the soldiers in Termina can barely hold a shield up on their own. You just landed a blow on me equipped with nothing but a stick and the clothes on your back. But here's the sad truth for you my friend," he leaned in close to Link, who kept his eyes locked on Vaati, reading his body language for an attack, "Daemon and I have something you don't, the mask."

This is where Link actually became interested in what Vaati was saying, "Wait, there it is again, the mask. What mask are you even talking about?" Link did his best to sound overly interested so Vaati might feel safe enough to attack and he could counter.

Vaati was having too much fun knowing he knew more than Link, "You don't know about the mask? My boy Link, you may be quick but you're going to have to be brighter than that. I bet you don't even know the story of Majora do you?" Vaati threw his head up in over-exaggerated laughter, which Link took full advantage of, taking a slide slash straight at Vaati's neck. This time, Vaati fell back clutching his wounded neck, realizing he could have easily just been killed by a boy with a broken stick. He glared, "This wound will take longer to heal. I have not failed yet though, I will see you again, hero."

With that, Vaati disappeared into the air; the wind didn't change speed or temperature, but it felt less uninviting to Link once Vaati was gone. The Goron was still unconscious but Skull Kid walked up behind Link holding his side in pain, "Would you mind too terribly if I asked you what the flying Deku Nuts that was all about?"

Link leaned forward and put his hands on his knees, panting, "I'm not too sure. I've never seen that man before, it seems like he's seen me though." Link stood back up, throwing the stick off to the side, "Did you see that headdress? It was so masterfully crafted, there's almost no way that could have been made by any modern blacksmiths."

Skull Kid was lost on the situation, "Are you saying he used magic to make that headdress? Because I really don't see how that's relevant to the current situation at all."

"No," said Link, "just something I noticed. It just sort of felt… futuristic."

"Pfft!" Skull Kid over exaggerated his disbelief, "If that guy is from the future we would already be dead, he'd be using his future-like lightning arrows and whatnot."

Link smiled at Skull Kid's reaction, "You're just afraid he is aren't you?"

Skull Kid crossed his arms and looked off to the side, "No, I just felt it was so ridiculous that I… I. You know what, how about we just drop the entire subject of that creep and find that Goron."

"The Goron can fend for himself," said Link, "he already knows to go back and inform the other Gorons. You're getting that fire arrow, and I'm off to find a bow."

Skull Kid seemed a bit scared of the separation, but nodded, "Okay, c'mon Tael, let's head for that temple I guess."

Once Skull Kid and Tael were off, Link looked off in the distance. He already knew she wasn't there, but wanted to say it anyways, "I guess it just never really ends does it Navi?" He closed his eyes, summoning Navi's voice from memory, _'If that isn't the truth Link.' _Link smiled at his imaginary conversation with his best friend, then started off for the long walk back to Clock Town, armed with nothing but a risky plan and wild hope.

Vaati sat atop the Stone Tower, alone, letting his neck heal, it would be finished within minutes. Suddenly he heard footsteps behind him, but knowing who it was he didn't bother to turn around, he was too ashamed of letting himself be injured by a mere child.

"Oh Vaati," said Daemon in a mockingly mother-ish tone, "I brought a friend."

Vaati turned and gaped in awe at the man that stood before him, "Daemon, master, I thought you said you wouldn't bring Ganon?"

Daemon laughed a little, "I guess I should have assumed the skin and hair color would have made you think that. This isn't Ganondorf, he is a male of the Gerudo though. Don't worry too much about introductions, he doesn't speak much. His name is Drolerif, a masterful wielder of flames."

Vaati looked at Drolerif for a moment, then shrugged, "I guess, if he want to help us we might as well let him. There is one unrelated thing I wish to speak to you about though master."

Daemon walked to Vaati and sat, signaling Drolerif to go about his way, "What is it?"

"You see," said Vaati, "You told me that the Links I have fought before are the ancestors of our current Link."

"I did indeed." Daemon nodded for Vaati to continue.

"I've noticed how this lands methods of trade and everything else aren't as… developed as they were in my time. I don't know if it's just the region but I feel like I'm in the past, before I fought those Links."

"And you're right." Daemon replied without hesitation.

"This doesn't make any sense," whined Vaati, straining his brain for comprehension.

Daemon only smiled and looked off into the depths of Ikana Canyon, "There is only one Link that came before the one we are dealing with now. You know his adversary, Demise?" Vaati only nodded. "Well, Demise was sealed within the Master Sword, but only his altered body and conscious mind were sealed. His essence was left hanging in the stale air after their final battle, and it followed that Link. Link continued to witness the birth of Hyrule, and Demise just hung in the air, watching." Daemon stood up, "There is simply no time to explain this entire story, but all I'm going to say is Demise is responsible for what I like to call the 'Time Rip'. If you imagine time as a rope, Demise took the strands and frayed them, tangled them, even burned some away. That is why you have fought those Links both in the past, and in the future. None of them did you fight before or after the others, you've lived three lives, all are meshed together in a horribly ugly timeline of Demise's creation."

Vaati stood up, rubbing his fully healed neck, "Somewhat confusing, but I think I get it. Must be quite a story."

Daemon nodded, "I'm not going to lie, it is something of a tale," he paused, "maybe somewhere someone knows the full story, and will someday tell that full story for us all to know. Until then Vaati, we have our own concerns."


	6. Meeting the Fire Lord

Chapter 6 - Meeting the Fire Lord

Despite all his worries, Link was happy when he finally felt the grass of Termina field below his feet. He heard the noise of a carriage, a carriage that was going much faster than any carriage should go. He looked up, not surprised to see a speedy carriage, but to see two men on horse back chasing the carriage with pitchforks raised to the sky. Two huge bottle of milk seemed to be pushed off the back of the carriage and landed, breaking right in front of the two men's horses. Both the men yelled in anger and started riding back after realizing they had lost the chase.

The men rode back into a rocky area to the east. After the carriage stopped by Clock Town's northern gate, Link's heart jumped. This girl that had just hopped out of the carriage looked almost identical to Malon. He started running for them without thought, but slowed as another woman climbed out of the carriage, also identical to Malon, but the older Malon.

Link was a few meters away when the little girl looked up at him, frowned, and ran over to the older woman, who looked at him and glared, "Just leave us alone Daemon, I don't want to have to deal with you right now." The little girl nodded and stuck her tongue at Link, then the woman scolded her for doing so in an inaudible whisper.

"Wait," Link said, trying his best to word how to explain things, "I may look like him, but I'm not Daemon. My name is Link, Daemon is planning on completely obliterating this world and taking over mine!"

The older woman looked at Link for only a moment, then replied coldly, "Yup. He's looney, c'mon Romani, let's go."

"Wait Sis," Romani exclaimed wrestling free of her older sister, "I see a difference between him and Daemon. Look at the lighter color of his tunic, and his eyes are blue, plus his hair is brighter."

Link stood in silence, waiting for the older sister's response. She sighed, "Okay, you're not Daemon. You really don't expect me to believe what you say about him though do you? I know the boy's mischievous and inconsiderate, but I don't see him doing something like that."

"I do." Romani said this without hesitation.

Her sister's shoulders dropped in impatience, "Yes Romani, you also see aliens at night around this time of year."

Link held his hand over his heart, "I swear on anything and everything, it's the truth, and I need your help."

The sister glared, "Now I see what this is about. If you think you're going to trick us into giving you any of our product for free, you're a lot dumber than you look."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," said Link not losing a single bit of patience, "and that's not what I want at all. The soldiers of Clock Town have me as a wanted person for impersonating Daemon. I know how that sounds, and it's true, but I'm innocent from a respectable point of view. All I need is some kind of way for the guards to not recognize me, a mask or hood or anything."

The sister sighed once more, it was as if she made the sound before everything she said, "Fine, take this."

She pulled out a mask that looked like a cow, the dumbfounded Link took it with a questioning look on his face.

The sister's hardened facial expression lightened a little, "You really aren't from around here are you? That mask grants you access to the milk bar after hours, so don't just go around telling people I gave it to you for no reason."

Link nodded in reassurance, "Thank you, Ms.…?"

"Cremia," said Cremia holding out her hand for a shake, "Just Cremia."

Link shook her hand greatfully, "Thank you Cremia. I'll repay the debt fully one day." With that, Link headed into Clock Town with the face of a cow.

Once in Clock Town, Link caught several strange stares and the laughs of children, but it was far better than being chased through town by the guards. Link finally came to the Curiosity Shop once again and entered.

The owner chuckled at Link's appearance, "You're really getting into an appreciation of masks aren't you Daemon? First that heart shaped one, then a skull, and now this!"

Link didn't acknowledge the shop owner's observation and just leaned over the counter, "Do you know where I can get myself a bow?"

The shop owner paused, thinking for a second, "Well, you can buy one here. It's 300 rupees though."

Link exhaled in frustration, "Any way I can bargain for lower?"

"Well," the shop owner put his hand to his chin, "for that mask I'll drop a whole 100."

"I'm still 150 rupees short." Link started for the door, disappointed.

"Wait," the shop owner called after Link, "I'll tell you what, if you can get me a nice shield _and _that mask, I'll give it to you, no rupees involved."

Link put his hand on the doorknob ready to leave, "Any idea where I can find a shield? Those are hard to come by around here I noticed."

The shop owner only shrugged, "You're on your own on that."

Outside, Link leaned his back against the wall, exhausted. "One thing after another huh Navi?" No answer. "I really better not make a habit out of that," said Link taking off down the street, "gonna wind up in a wacko basket eventually."

Drolerif watched Link head up the stairs into northern Clock Town. Once Link was out of sight he walked into the Curiosity Shop himself.

As ironic as it sounds, the shop owner looked up at Drolerif with curiosity, "Oh? And who might you be? You look Gerudo, but that's no pirate attire, and you're a male. You're not from here are you? Well, no matter, feel free to take a look around."

Drolerif did indeed take a look, a quick look around, then he knocked the shop owner out with a single punch. He took a wooden bow from behind the counter and snapped his fingers. From his snap a single spark flew up in the air and began a slow descent to the ground. Drolerif was already gone, and the second the spark hit the ground the entire floor burst into flames. The curiosity shop owner would have woken in a matter of hours, but as a result of the fire, he never awoke.

Link was back out on the tundra-like landscape of northern Termina field when suddenly, a large amount of the snow around him instantly melted as a result of him being trapped in a ring of fire with a fifty meter diameter. He turned and what he saw made him gasp so loud it actually hurt his throat a bit, "Ganondorf!"

He reached for his sword, which he was again reminded he didn't have. Drolerif finally spoke, and his voice wasn't deeper, but somehow much more powerful than Ganondorf's, "No, Drolerif." With another snap of the fingers, a sword appeared in Drolerif's hand. The sword was very reflective of Drolerif. The hilt was the size of Link's torso, and the blade extended a meter and a half. The hilt was made of a reddish stone, with diagonal grooves running across the handle. The blade seemed to be made completely out of fire, and it was bent several times down it's length like a Stalfos's sword.

"Link!" It was Skull Kid, and amazingly, he had both the fire arrow and the sword made from his flute.

"Toss the sword, quick!" Skull Kid did as he was told, the sword whistled musically as it flew to the air at Link.

It stuck in the ground by Link's feet, and he picked it up. This sword was similar to the Kokiri Sword, the hilt was close to identical, as was the blade's shape. The only difference was the empty spaces down the length of it that went at an angle in different places. Link did a little swing to get accustomed to the sword and instantly understood the lines. It was a sword, _and_ a musical instrument, the way it was swung determined it's pitch.

The sight of this sword was funny enough to get Drolerif laughing, "That blade is a foot long! Do you think you can defend yourself from me with that!"

Skull Kid was offended by the insult made towards his flute-now-weapon, and decided to pipe up, "If you're going to kill us, do it honorably!"

Link, Tael, and even Skull Kid were a bit surprised by this outburst. Nonetheless, Drolerif advanced, "I'm under direct orders, I cannot kill Link, only maim him. That skull kid on the other hand, you're fair game."

Skull Kid trembled a bit. Link saw the wooden bow tucked under Drolerif's belt. While Drolerif smiled at how he had struck fear into Skull Kid, Link rolled by him and snatched the bow. Skull Kid took this as a cue, and threw the fire arrow at Link. Link took the arrow and looked at it, then at Drolerif, "I really don't think this will help any Skull Kid."

A swirl of black wind jutted out of the air and billowed to the ground. Vaati stood there, holding Skull Kid around the neck, "No struggling now. Wouldn't want to accidentally break that tiny neck of yours."

Drolerif completely disregarded Link and leaped out of the ring of fire to Vaati, "That kill is mine!"

Vaati only glared at Drolerif, "I figured if it was your kill it'd be dead already. I guess I was wrong. I reached the skull kid first, his life is mine."

Skull Kid raised a hand helplessly, "How about we all go home?"

Both Vaati and Drolerif ignored Skull Kid; Drolerif's concentration had strayed from Link, and the ring of fire died down. Like ran at the two of them, his feet trekking the dirt below him silently, and leaped at Drolerif's back. He successfully stabbed straight into Drolerif's spine. The Gerudo flinched, but only that. He threw Link to the side and pulled the blade out of his back, throwing it to Link.

Drolerif somehow had the amazing ability to heal himself from a sword to the spine, but it would take time, and he didn't have the power to teleport as Vaati did. Vaati took Drolerif around the shoulders, ready to take him back to the Stone Tower with him, "This seals your fate Link. Next time, we both come for you, and only you. We won't so careless as to let anything like this happen again."

With that, Vaati was off with Drolerif. Skull Kid walked up to Link holding his sore neck, "Well, that was fun."

Link looked down at the bow and the fire arrow, "Let's go find our friend Darmani shall we?"


	7. Soothing Sounds of Battle

Chapter 7 - Soothing Sounds of Battle

Link'a first day in Termina had been utterly exhausting, and he was glad when the oversized sun began to set and he could feel the cool breeze of the night air. He and Skull Kid were both trudging through the wet grass toward's the blacksmith's hut once the actual sun was no longer visible, leaving only a bit of sky that smoothly faded from pink to black, and a wolf's howl could be heard in the distance.

Link, Skull Kid, and Tael all entered the hut, the owner looked up excitedly at first, but lost most of his interest when he saw it was them again, "Ah, so do you like it? I know you said you'd be back in the morning but you're friend decided he'd pick it up for you himself."

Link nodded, "It's a very fine sword, I just want to ask exactly how you work it's musical properties."

"So you can have some soothing tunes as you hack your way through hundreds of bloodthirsty monsters?" The owner asked this with a completely serious face, whilst Link's blank face made Skull Kid burst out in fits of laughter.

The owner's masked assistant's face was covered, but somehow a look of disapproval towards Skull Kid leaked through. "Sure." Link answered shortly slapping Skull Kid's back subtly to make him stop.

"Okay then, first thing's first I guess. You know a scale right?" The owner sat at the table and put his legs up onto it.

Link nodded, "A to G. Right."

"Alright, then this should be easy. I'm gonna go through this quickly and you just go ahead and ask any questions you have when I'm done. To play and A, swing horizontally to the right, and horizontally to the left for a B. To play C, swing vertically upwards, vertically downwards will give you a D. Swing diagonally upwards, left or right, for an E. Diagonally downwards, still left or right gets you an F. And for G just thrust forwards." The owner seemed proud of his explanation and leaned back on his chair with his hands behind his head.

Link had a few questions, "What about sharps and flats?"

The shop owner stopped rocking on the four legged chair and looked at Link with a black face, "What?"

"You know," Link, knowing full well the owner in fact did _not _know, "sharps are slightly higher and flats are slightly lower."

The owner sighed, "Well, it's not _that _advanced of an instrument, it doesn't have any sharps or flats, but it'll prove useful nonetheless."

Link knew for a fact that there had to be a way to activate sharps and flats, the instrument was incapable of not having them. He'd just have to deal with what he knew, the sharps and flats couldn't be that important, "Alright, one more thing, different octaves?"

This the owner smiled at, relieving Link, for octaves would be very important for some songs. "Ah yes, octaves. That is an interesting phenomenon of this weapon I actually discovered by accident. The faster you swing, the higher the octave is. You have to learn it quite well though, because at the wrong speed you'd be horribly out of tune."

Link nodded, and asked the final of his questions, "Alright, now then, slurs and trills?" He didn't have much use for trills, but decided it wouldn't hurt to ask anyways.

"Well, trills are sort of impossible," said the shop owner with a somewhat grim expression, "but for slurs, instead of only swinging then coming back for another swing, you need to keep the blade moving is all. Not difficult if you're a good swordsman, it could be habit that's hard to get out of though, if you need to play without a slur."

Link was satisfied, "Alright then, thank you. Come on Skull Kid, let's go."

Once outside, Skull Kid asked to see the sword, and Link trusted him enough to. "Wow," said Skull Kid taking the sword in one hand, "it's only a bit heavier than my flute was. Probably because of the added iron hilt, huh?" Link only nodded, concentrating on the path before them, sort of listening to Skull Kid, but mostly keeping an ear and eye out for enemies of any kind. "Well," Skull Kid continued obviously oblivious to the way he was being ignored, "I think it's pretty cool how he retained its musical properties. It kind of makes me even more proud that it's my flute. It's so light, I bet even I could handle it and make it look like I'm pretty skilled in swordplay huh?"

Link answered this time, "Maybe, it depends on what you mean by skilled. You'd still need a pretty strong arm to go up against someone else with a sword, shield, or armor, but if you're fighting something like a Deku Baba, yeah, you'd look pretty good." Skull Kid smiled contentedly, satisfied with Link's answer, and swung the sword once for a musical note before handing it back to Link, who sheathed it. "There is one more thing though," Link said, still keeping a vigilant eye out, "the owner of the curiosity shop reminded me, I may want to keep my eye out for some kind of shield."

"I hear there's one hidden somewhere in Ikana Canyon." Skull Kid casually kicked a rock aside, catching a glare from Link that wordlessly said to keep noise to a minimum.

"Alright, once this whole ordeal with establishing a base with the Gorons is over, I'll go check that out. Unless you want to come with?"

Skull Kid though for a moment, "Only if you think you'll need me. I don't really want to leave Tael alone, and I don't want to put him in any unnecessary danger either, I'm just looking forward to getting Tatl back from Daemon."

Link shrugged, "I'm pretty sure I'll be able to handle myself, how bad can the canyon be?"

Skull Kid mimicked Link's shrug, "Don't ask me on that one, I've never gone there. People say it's haunted. In all honesty I'm just too scared to look."

Link wasn't in the least bit frightened by this, rumors of a haunted canyon are nothing compared to the harsh reality of the confinements of the bloodcurdling creatures in the Shadow Temple and well bottom in Kakariko.

They finally came to a point where the water ahead was a virtual river, about five feet deep and speeding along like the moat in front of the Hyrule Market. Link and Skull Kid climbed up onto a rock to the side so as to not have to deal with the water's resistance. Ahead, just in the middle of the stream, was what at first glance looked like a rock. Upon further inspection, Link saw it was a crystal of ice, and encased inside it was a Goron, undoubtedly Darmani.

"Wait," Link finally came to a realization, "how is it Darmani is frozen there yet the water all around him is warm? That ice can't be natural, either this whole river should be frozen or he should have been melted out by now."

Skull Kid shrugged, tossing care for the subject aside, "Does that really matter at the moment? Let's just unfreeze him."

"Fine then." Link took the wooden bow, and one of the ten arrows that were with the bow, possession of the fire arrow gave Link to ability to mentally set the arrow aflame once the bow was strung, magically not affecting the bow. Taking care not to shoot directly at Darmani himself, Link set off a skillfully perfect shot at the block of ice. The entire area lit up red as the ice melted away from Darmani and the Goron fell, the stream carrying him a couple meters before it became low enough to simply move past his body as he lay on the ground unconscious.

It was quite the effort for Link and Skull Kid, dragging the huge and heavy Goron back to the Mountain Village. Once at a somewhat dry stopping point, Link collapsed to his back and Skull Kid carelessly threw himself onto the Goron's back, "You know Link, I've been seen doing some pretty strange things. But if can only imagine how it would have looked to any passersby had they seen us dragging a Goron through the place."

"Very strange indeed," said the blacksmith shop owner standing in the doorway of the hut, "mind telling me exactly why you're dragging a Goron through Snowhead?"

Link sat up and held one finger up as a '_Just give me a second'_ while he caught his breath. Once his breath was caught, he began speaking, "We need him to help us barricade the river running down the mountain. Not enough to end the flood, just enough to end it's flow for the amount of time we need to wade our way to the Great Fairy's cave."

The shop owner folded his arms, "Gonna try to get her to stop the water flow huh? Maybe you could ask her something for me too?"

Link looked at Skull Kid, who raised his arms as if to say _'your call'_. "Sure," said Link standing, "as long as it's not too much trouble."

The owner nodded, "Alright, so I was wondering if maybe she'd somehow make the gold dust in our area a bit more plentiful? It's not exactly renewable, and the Gorons mined all the gold from a long abandoned mine and turned it into dust as a prize for their races long before we came along."

Link helped Skull Kid to his feet, "Alright, doesn't seem like too much to ask. I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you." The shop owner took his hat off to Link and Skull Kid before entering his hut once again.

Suddenly Darmani started coughing and shivering. Skull Kid watched anxiously as Link patiently waited for the fits to wear off. Finally he pushed himself up to his hands and knees and looked at Link, "You… you're the one who saved me."

Link nodded, "Yes, and I hope you're not injured because we have an important task and you're a big part of it."

Darmani held up a hand, "I'll help you human, but first… that smell."

Both Link and Skull Kid were confused, they didn't smell anything, and neither of them were carrying anything that particularly held an aroma on them.

Seemingly out of nowhere the Goron from when Link and Skull Kid first encountered Vaati came rolling into the area. "Darmani! I am glad to see you well brother, but there's a whole pack of them on the way from where I just came now!"

Link's expression changed from curious to battle-ready, he unsheathed his sword and watched the place the Goron mentioned intently.

"Tael," Skull Kid called up to his fairy, "fly ahead and see what it is!"

The fairy took off and after a short moment came speeding back, "White Wolfos! Five of them!"

"You're kidding me." Link muttered under his breath, Wolfos weren't much of a threat, but they can be tricky without a shield, and White Wolfos were much bigger.

Soon they heard the howls, Darmani curled up into a ball, spun for a while until spikes sprouted from his back and he sped for the trail. A Wolfos and Darmani both reached the entrance to the trail at the same time. Darmani tore through the Wolfos and continued up the trail unseen. Soon he came rolling back and stopped in front of them, unrolling, "No problem for us Gorons. All four down without a fight." The Goron smiled, pleased with his work.

Tael made the unmistakable ringing noise a fairy makes to get attention, "Hey! I said five, not four!"

"You were mistaken, little one," Darmani said re-assuredly, "I only witnessed four of those beasts up there."

On perfect cue with Darmani's words, another White Wolfos leaped down from a low cliff. It would have taken Skull Kid and torn him to shreds in a matter of seconds had Link not swing and knocked the Wolfos back in mid-air. The Wolfos eyed Link with its red eyes for a moment, then started circling with him as if he had taken the moment to decide whether or not to choose Link as his opponent.

For a whole five minutes, the only noise in the entire area was the Wolfos snarling and Link's blade whistling every time one would attack and the other defended. The blacksmith's never came out, but if one decided to look, they'd see the two inhabitants of the hut watching intently and safely from their window. Finally the Wolfos went for a jump attack. Link ran two steps, dropped to his knees and arced his swing forwards, making direct contact with the Wolfos's underbelly.

Everyone looked from the dead Wolfos to Link cleaning his sword in the wet grass in a sort of silent congratulations. "Now then," said Link turning to Darmani, "About that barricade."


	8. A Chaotic Force

Chapter 8 - A Chaotic Force

Darmani pushed the final boulder into a huge barricade holding back the water flow from the peak of Snowhead. "The path beyond this barricade is trapped beneath deep water human," he said turning to Link, "are you sure you can make it to the Great Fairy before this barricade gives way? It's fairly simple."

Link raised one hand, "It's either sit here and wait for the barricade to give way or give it a shot. I find the latter more promising." He turned to Skull Kid, "You're still sure you'll be able to hold up back here?"

Skull Kid nodded, "Tael's body is too small to be able to stand the temperature at that altitude once you have the Great Fairy bring the cold back. His safest bet is to stay here, and I don't want to leave him."

Link nodded, "Alright, I'm not getting anything done here. I'll see you soon enough."

Skull Kid and Darmani waved goodbye, Tael only flew up and down to acknowledge Link's leaving. Skull Kid looked back at Link as he entered the blacksmiths' hut, "I'm beginning to like that guy, Tael."

"You should," Tael replied casually, "he's only saved your life a few times in the same day."

Link climbed up the sloppy barricade, careful not to pull anything loose, and stood upon it looking out at the water that stood before him. _The things I do, _he thought briefly to himself before leaping into the water at an angle. With an effortful thrust upwards he broke the surface again and grabbed desperately for the rock wall to his left. He found a grip and held it, letting his body adjust to the sudden change in temperature before beginning to edge his way up the trail.

"Both of you failed!" Daemon cried furiously, "Vaati's first failure I can understand, I half expected it," Vaati's face changed to a comically dismayed expression, "but both you _and _Drolerif, against a virtually defenseless foe? Let me put this image in your mind, what were you doing that resulted in Link's success?" Drolerif and Vaati looked at each other, both expecting the other to answer. Daemon sighed, more in disbelief than anger, "You were arguing over who got to kill the Skull Kid. There's plenty in the woods past the inter-dimensional gate underneath Clock Town, but you two have to quarrel over one!"

"I apologize, and seek your forgiveness, Master." The Gerudo bowed his head and put his hand over his chest. On the off chance that any passersby may be strolling across the roof of the Stone Tower with them, he would have seen the strange image of a six foot Gerudo bowing to a young child.

"I don't want any apologies," Daemon said, waving off Drolerif's request for forgiveness, "I want success. Link's death. I tell you to go out there and take care of him, I shouldn't have to draw up blueprints of exactly what to do for you. Link has returned to Snowhead, and even as we speak he's heavily occupied with climbing the mountain by hand. He's wet and no doubt very cold. Go there, and destroy Link. Don't let any distraction get in your way. In any normal situation, I wouldn't care, but I feel the need to stress this now, kill _no one _but Link. Am I being clear? Do I have to repeat anything? Do either of you understand a word I just said!" Both Drolerif and Vaati stared at Daemon shocked, for neither had ever seen him lose his cool in such a way. Daemon scoffed, "Just go!"

After an hour that felt like several, Link came to an area where he could climb up onto a rock. Shivering, he laid on the rock on his back, letting the abnormally large and hot sun dry him for about five minutes. Eventually he forced himself back up to his feet and looked around. He had come so close to the peak of Snowhead without even noticing. The pointed tip was still encased in ice, and water was running off the ice like a waterfall.

Suddenly, Link felt a change in the wind, just as he had the first time he enountered Vaati, "You know, you're making yourself very obvious!" There was no point in pretending he didn't notice the presence.

Vaati materialized sitting on another boulder off to Link's right, "Stealth was never my strong suit, I brought my friend again."

Drolerif soon appeared on a boulder slightly behind Vaati, and being a man of few words, wanted to avoid Vaati's tendency to attempt intimidation as much as possible, "Let's just get this over with."

Vaati slowly nodded, "Yes, I don't even see a way for Link to defend himself, let's just take him out from here."

Vaati started charging an energy ball and Link pretended to ready his sword at an attempt to knock the ball back at Vaati. When the moment came when Vaati could not turn back from firing the energy ball, Link pulled out the fire arrow as fast as he could and took a quick shot at Vaati. The arrow connected with Vaati's torso and he instinctively moved to hold his side, only making it worse by shoving the energy ball against his own body.

Vaati became furious at this, "You're not running away from this one!" He jumped off the rock to a high altitude, and whilst in mid-air he drew a sword and started charging down at Link.

Link leaped for the rock Vaati was formerly standing on and brought his sword up in perfect timing to deflect a blow from Drolerif. Drolerif's blade provided an excellent deadly weapon, but recoil from a block was just terrible. Link took the time provided and used the advantage of his speed and small size to hop to Drolerif's rock and shove up against him to push him into the water. Vaati landed on Link's original rock with a pound and worked to pull his blade from the stone.

Link leaped out into the water again and grabbed onto the side of the trail's rock wall. He knew he was in trouble when he noticed the slick ice already starting to cover the stone. Suddenly, from underneath the water, Drolerif grabbed Link's leg, pulling him under without any time to take a breath. Without time for accuracy, Link swung blindly in the general direction he believed Drolerif's head to be. After a couple swings he felt the blade connect with something too soft to be rock. He felt Drolerif's grip on his leg loosen, and took his chance.

He pulled himself out of the water once again, held onto the icy wall as hard as he could. One of Vaati's energy balls hit the wall right by Link, causing the ice to melt away underneath his fingers. He slid a little, then quickly grabbed the stone wall and pulled himself up enough stand on the wall. Drolerif was pulling himself out at another rock, and Vaati was charging yet another ball.

Link was beginning to become exhausted when he looked over at the mountain peak, underneath the ice he could see a cave entrance. Vaati fired the energy ball, and Link ducked down just in time for it to sail over his head. Taking advantage of every second he could, Link quickly readied his bow and shot a fire arrow straight at the ice covered cave entrance, which he was hoping would be the Great Fairy's Fountain, a place where no evil may enter without her permission.

Just as the last of the ice-now-water dripped away from the cave, Link leaped towards it. He caught the floor of the mouth of the cave by his left hand and pulled himself up, ignoring the sound of Vaati's energy ball being fired yet again. It blasted just behind his feet as he ran into the cave. He heard Vaati yell out in frustration as the light from outside faded out of view and rays of light from the Great Fairy's Fountain came into view.

As he walked up to fountain, he readied his sword to play Zelda's Lullaby, but there was no need. Link jumped in surprise when the Great Fairy sprang from the water pool without his calling. He remained quiet as she stretched and finally gave Link notice, she leaned in close to him, "Ah, you are not one with this world are you? No, you belong to another. Why is it you've searched for and entered my fountain?"

Link slid his sword back into it's sheath, "My party and I were hoping you could return cold to the peak of this mountain? The Goron village has been flooded out, and almost all the trails have turned into rivers."

The Great Fairy cocked her head to the left slightly, "Hm. Yes, I will form a seal over this region and refreeze the peak. Take note though, I cannot control this unnatural swelling of the sun. There is another force much more powerful than I intertwined in all of this, a chaotic force. I cannot define a time when the ozone layer becomes useless, and everything disintegrates into just another rock, but I feel we don't have much time, I'd guess a week. Go forth brave one, for you are capable of stopping this madness. Trust in your friends, for without them you will not make it far. Be cautious, for charging in blindly can jeopardize your every chance."

Link only nodded and thanked the Great Fairy before coming back to the mouth of the cave. Vaati and Drolerif were gone, but Link proceeded carefully, in case they were hiding, waiting to ambush him. Above he saw a light, semi-transparent, green film spread across the sky of the Snowhead region. In a matter of seconds the air around him started to feel much cooler, like late Autumn.

Link made his way back into the Mountain Village, where Skull Kid, Tael, and Darmani were all waiting for him. Skull Kid was looking up at the seal protecting Snowhead from the sun, "So… that's what Daemon is going to destroy Termina with, huh?" Link didn't respond, the answer was obvious.

Tael spoke up, "Well then, let's get going to the Goron Village then, right?"

Link nodded, "Yep, nothing left to do here. We're steadily getting to where we need to be to save this world guys, don't worry, it's all coming together the way it should."

Darmani led the three of them to the Goron Village, used a Goron pound to open the door, and led the three of them inside.

Daemon paced back and forth, not on the roof anymore, but the top floor of the Stone Tower. Both Vaati and Drolerif awaited their scolding for failing in killing Link yet again. "It's obvious that we only need to take a different approach to this," Daemon said finally, "now, knowing Link the way he is… Vaati."

Vaati raised his head, "Yes?"

"The abandoned mines buried just beneath the Goron village would make a great place for monsters escape into the outside world, would it not?" Daemon asked.

"Well, yes," answered Vaati, "but I can't see that working very well towards the destruction of Link in the long run."

"Oh, you'll see what I have in mind eventually, I'll give you instructions later." Daemon walked over to the far side of the room, to a small glass cage with a dimly lit yellow fairy hovering inside, "Drolerif, you still have that dark magic dust, right?"

Drolerif walked over to Daemon and handed him a small pouch, "Yes. Ground from dark rock found deeper underground the Gerudo Desert any normal human could travel."

Daemon took the pouch and eyed the fair in the small glass box, "Good."


	9. The Goron Mines

Chapter 9 - The Goron Mines

Link and Skull Kid treaded behind Darmani as he led them through the Goron Shrine. Once down a long hallway, they were brought up to an extremely old Goron, who shook with every movement. Darmani started to explain their situation to the Goron Elder as Link hung back to speak with Skull Kid.

"Once we have these guys convinced to let us stay here, the first thing we're going to do is get a plan to get Tatl back." Link patted Skull Kid on the back before returning his attention to Darmani and the Goron Elder.

The Goron Elder, leaned in a bit towards Link, "So, human, you wish to use our home as a base while you work to stop this "Daemon" character from destroying our world with the sun?"

"Look," said Link raising a hand, "I know it sounds a bit far fetched, but I-"

"Absolutely," the Elder cried out throwing both his arms up, "who am I to not help someone in dire need?"

Link bowed slightly, "Thank you."

"There is one thing," the Elder walked over to a bed on the far side of the room and started to push it away from the wall, revealing a small opening to a cave, "I would like to ask in return though."

Link walked over to the cave entrance and peeked in, it was pitch black, "Yeah?"

"These are the old abandoned Goron mines," the Elder explained, "materials for our main export, bombs, have long since disappeared from this mine, but recently, monsters have been found trying to worm their way out of the cave from this entrance, more and more every day actually. I would be delighted to let you stay here if your party could investigate and find the source of all these monsters, and rid us of them if possible."

Link unsheathed his sword, "Happily." He turned back to Skull Kid and Tael, "You guys wanna stay back here?"

Skull Kid shook his head, "No, we'll come. Besides, you need a way of seeing." Tael went ahead and flew into the cave, his light giving visibility in the cave for several meters.

"One more thing," said the Elder, raising one finger, "I see that you are without a shield, as you are without any means of defense," the Elder gestured towards Skull Kid, "the Gorons would be happy to equip you with what you need."

By the end of it, Link had a shield deceptively similar to the Hylian Shield, and identical to Daemon's, and a bomb bag full with twenty bombs. Skull Kid now had a small blade, half as long as Link's sword, and a buckler shield made of a strange mix of stone and metal. Link and Skull Kid thanked the Goron Elder before heading into the abandoned mines. Once the three of them were in, the Elder pushed it's bed back into place, the room now bathed in Tael's purple light.

Link felt the wall, "Wow, it feels like it's been so long."

"So long since what?" Skull Kid walked up next to him, feeling the wall himself, trying to see what Link was talking about.

"I haven't even set foot in a dungeon since the Spirit Temple."

Skull Kid cocked his head to the side, "You went to the Spirit Temple!"

Link laughed lightly, "I've been to a lot of strange places, all over Hyrule, Skull Kid."

Skull Kid shrugged, "I never saw you outside of the Lost Woods, I wouldn't know what any of those places are like."

"Maybe once this is over, I should show you what it's all like." Link stopped short, only just now remembering, Ganondorf had taken over Hyrule, there was no point in going back. "Well… never mind. I forgot, Ganondorf has taken over Hyrule," then Link stopped to think again, "wait, Daemon's whole plan is to take over Hyrule in the long run. Can't we just let what happens happen and let him take Hyrule? There isn't much for us back there."

"What about this world? A-and Tatl!"

Link raised one hand, "You're right, I forgot. We have to just push through, for this world," he looked around, they had been walking a while, and stone hallway hadn't changed nor had they seen a single monster, "maybe once this is over with we should stay here. Termina is a lot smaller than Hyrule, but I like it here."

Skull Kid nodded, "That does sound nice, doesn't it?"

A noise made all three of them jump, Tael accidentally ran into the ceiling. Link looked one way down the hall as Skull Kid looked the other way, both holding their breath keeping an eye out for whatever had made the noise. Suddenly, a red jelly-like monster jumped out of the darkness, its heart in the center visible.

Link jumped, "Whoa! What is _that _thing?"

Skull Kid casually walked up the monster and dispatched it himself, "What? You've never seen a Chu-chu?"

Link was confused, "A what-what?"

"A Chu-chu," Skull Kid repeated, "they're really no threat at all." At that very moment, six Chu-chu jumped from the dark and dog-piled on Skull Kid. Link ran up and took out the Chu-chu as quickly as he could. Skull Kid quickly jumped back to his feet, brushing himself off, "Well then. I obviously had the situation under control."

Link smiled, "Obviously," he looked down the hall, keeping an eye out for any more, "if these are the monsters causing the Gorons so much trouble, we've really got nothing to worry about, huh?"

"I've been thinking," said Skull Kid, "since the Kokiri Sword and Hylian Shield were broken, you've basically called that just a "sword". Why not give it a name as well? It is pretty unique in itself."

Link held up the sword, examining the grooves, "The Whistle Blade?"

Skull Kid laughed, "How intimidating, but yes, I actually do kind of like that name, has ring to it, and that shield, it's almost identical to the Hylian Shield, might as well call it the Terminian Shield, right?"

Link shrugged, "Might as well, what about yours? The shield is fine as a Stone Buckler, but I don't suppose the word "knife" is all that special of name for your blade is it?"

Skull Kid held the knife out, "The Goron's Knife?"

Link laughed as well, "The name's already been taken, but I don't suppose that matters now. Seems that one's a bit more reliable than the original anyways."

After what seemed like forever, they came across a huge room. It was filled with mine tracks, each one leaving into another hallway through yet another cave entrance. The entrances were scattered across the dome-like walls, and Link and Skull Kid stood at one of the highest ones.

Link leaned forward and looked down, "Well this looks like it'll be fun." There was one narrow mine track projecting from their little cave and disappearing into the mess of others.

"We're supposed to walk across this?" Skull Kid tapped his foot on one of the wooden planks timidly.

Link shrugged half-heartedly, "I really don't see how actually, these have to be way too old, they'd probably break right underneath your feet, and you're much lighter than I am."

Tael flew right out and hovered above the track, laughing lightly, "I don't have a problem! Maybe I should be the one to get rid of all the monst-" at that very moment a strange dark cloud erupted from the depths of the mine and encased Tael. After it faded away, Tael was no longer there.

"Tael!" Skull Kid ran right out on the mine track, oblivious to the wood creaking under his feet. Suddenly the plank broke underneath him and he fell into the darkness.

"Skull Kid!" Link was smart enough to stay on the stone floor, but the same black cloud that had taken Tael came back up and took him away anyways.

Link's head was swimming, he slowly opened his eyes, there was no pain, so it was obvious he hadn't fallen to the ground he way lying on. After a moment he managed to push himself up and look around. Skull Kid was waking up across the room, and Tael was hovering over Skull Kid. There was something immediately noticeably different about the room, instead of the room being lit with Tael's purple light, the walls were all a very light orange. Skull Kid jumped when he looked to the farthest side of the room, so Link looked. There was a small yellow fairy hovering, seemingly emotionless.

"Tatl!" Skull Kid cried out, starting to run over to the fairy. Link took a closer look at Tatl, _'That's Tatl? Huh, she seems really similar to Navi' _.

Tael cried out after Skull Kid, "Wait!" Skull Kid wasn't listening, and the moment he got within an arm's distance of Tatl, some invisible force pushed him back, knocking him against the wall, unconscious.

Link moved to draw the whistle blade, then stopped himself, what could he do, dispatch one of the only reasons he was even here? Tatl flew at him now, he raised the Terminian shield and she bounced off like an arrow against a stone wall. Tael flew at Tatl, attempting to knock her back for whatever it would be worth, but she dodged and knocked him into the wall, knocking him unconscious as well.

Link was baffled, voicing his disbelief aloud, "Am I really fighting a fairy? A fairy!" Link blocked yet another charge from Tatl, but heard a new sound, the sound of multiple howls coming from the darkness above, where the mining system was. It was easy to tell, there were dozens of Wolfos headed his way by some means, the only question was whether they were normal or White Wolfos. This strange little fairy was now the least of his worries, as the sound of the howls grew louder.


	10. Hero's Haven

Chapter 10 - Hero's Haven

Drolerif stood atop the the Stone Tower with Vaati, Daemon was inside, on the floor just beneath them.

"I've been meaning to ask you," said Vaati, not taking his eyes off of Clock Town, visible in the distance, "why is it you serve Daemon? I serve him because the curse of the mask leaves me no choice in the matter, but you, what's in it for you?"

Drolerif shrugged a bit, "Daemon plans on ruling the earth itself, he promises to leave Hyrule to me after we overthrow Ganondorf."

Vaati nodded slightly, "I still don't quite understand, Daemon is only a child, you could best him if you wanted and take Hyrule for yourself without him."

Drolerif chuckled a bit, very much unlike him, "I could, if Daemon didn't have possession of that mask, anyways. And with all the powers it's given him, I'd be a fool to even think about trying to steal it away from him."

"That's right," Daemon was behind them, both of them wondered for how long, "but that's beside the point of why I came up here. That fairy is already causing Link trouble," a smile came across Daemon's face, "and to put icing on the cake, there's a whole pack of Wolfos headed his way. I honestly don't see Link getting out of this one, he's completely cornered."

Link cut through the last of the Wolfos, grateful that only one of them was a White Wolfos. He stretched his arms out over his head, twirling the Whistle Blade back into its sheath, "I honestly didn't see much of a challenge in that, too bad Skull Kid and Tael were asleep."

Without warning, Tatl charged from out of nowhere and flung her body against Link's chest. As quickly as he could, Link grabbed for the fairy, catching her by one wing and feeling it rip, she screamed out, "Ah! Don't! It's not me, it's not me, please!"

Link grabbed for the fairy again, getting a much firmer grip on it's round body, letting the injured wing rest on his wrist, "What? What do you mean it's not you, you've been attacking us since we fell into this pit."

"I don't have any control over my physical actions," Tatl explained, "Daemon and his Gerudo servant used a dark powder to possess me. The only way to turn me back is for me to be submerged in one of the pools of silver water in the deepest chamber of these mines." Tatl whimpered as her wing twitched, "I guess I should be thankful it also has healing capabilities."

Link let go of Tatl, her possessed body flapped its still functioning wing desperately, but she only flew around in circles.

"I think it's safe to let you free," said Link, raising an eyebrow at the fairy's rapid spinning, "here, I'll let you rest in my hat." He took Tatl, lifted up his hat and set her inside, then he placed the pointed hat into one of his several belt pouches.

From inside he heard the fairy's small voice, "Thank you."

Link sat and talked with Tatl until Skull Kid was the first to awaken. Skull Kid took the still unconscious Tael and placed him in one of his hidden pockets. After Link explained Tatl's predicament to Skull Kid, they both started looking for a way out of the deep pit.

"We're already pretty deep in the mines by now," Link called out to Tatl, "how much deeper should we be going."

"We're actually pretty close to the bottom," Tatl called back, "there should be a loose stone on the wall somewhere in this room that opens a passage way to the pools."

Link smiled at Skull Kid, "Is that convenient or what? Alright, let's get to looking for a loose stone.

After what seemed to be an eternity of searching, Link came across a piece of rock that protruded from the wall. He grabbed it and tried wiggling it around, then he pulled down on it. It turned downwards like a lever, fitting into the wall perfectly. Link, Skull Kid, and the now awake Tael watched as the wall sank into the ground, revealing yet another hallway, this one having stairs that led downwards.

Skull Kid stretched his arm out, "Shall we then?"

Link nodded, and started his way down the purple lit hallway, a yellow light visible shining through his belt pouch. They had only been walking a little ways when they heard a rumbling from the way they had come.

Link looked back, "What? What was that?"

He felt Tatl shaking inside his pouch, "It's that thing that brought me here! It's terrifying!"

Link quickly undid his pouch and handed his hat to Skull Kid, "You and Tael take Tatl down to the pools and heal her up, I'll see whatever that thing is."

Skull Kid nodded, "Okay, don't get yourself killed," he held up Link's hat, "I want to see you wearing this thing again sometime soon."

Link smiled, "Oh don't worry, I refuse to leave this life without that thing."

Link reentered the room where they had found Tatl, to find something entirely different. A huge white rabbit, possibly the size of a Goron, stood in the middle of the room. Link edged forward, feeling the rabbit's soft fur, "So, you were the one made to take Tatl here, huh?" Link smiled, "You're really not all that terrifying."

At the feel of Link's hand, the rabbit jumped away. It turned to Link and started hissing, extremely loudly, and revealed its sharp teeth. Its red eyes bulged, and the once soft white fur started to come together and harden, eventually making it look like the rabbit was encased in ice. Its small paws had grown razor sharp claws and by the end of it all rabbit had tripled in size.

"Okay, I'll admit," Link said, subconsciously keeping very quiet, "that's pretty scary."

Skull Kid, Tael, and a fully healed Tatl came into the room behind Link. Skull Kid looked up at the huge rabbit in awe, "The only rabbit we get to see in this region and it's gonna kill us, huh?"

"It really seems that way, doesn't it?" Link answered, taking out the bow and aiming a fire arrow at the rabbit.

The rabbit had just started jumping at them when it was knocked back by a fire arrow. The rabbit fell on its side, exposing a red underbelly behind all the ice. "There," Skull Kid cried out, "if we can get through its ice shell, that red bit on its belly looks like a potential weak spot."

Link ran at the rabbit again, sliding on his back right past the rabbit, firing another shot at its underbelly with a fire arrow. More ice melted away from the rabbit, and the glowing red underbelly became vulnerable. Link ran to the rabbit and got one slash in before the rabbit kicked him away with it's strong hind legs. He slid across the floor until he hit the wall. Looking up, he saw the rabbit charging at him, its sharp teeth bared. In desperation, Link grabbed the bow, strung a normal arrow, and shot into the rabbit's eye. The rabbit crashed forward onto its face and slid to Link's feet. Link ran around to the rabbit's exposed underbelly and unsheathed his sword.

Skull Kid looked to Tael, "I know how we can make this a super huge ego boost for him."

He tossed Link his hat, and in one swift dramatic motion, Link pulled that hat over the top of his head, put one foot up on the rabbit's main body, and used both hands to stab the Whistle Blade down into its red belly. The rabbit stopped moving, and the ice that was its body shattered to pieces, small slabs of ice melting away at their feet.

"And that," said Link, walking over to Skull Kid and the two fairies, "is how you do it 'Hero of Time' style." Skull Kid clapped his hands slowly and unenthusiastically.

Tatl flew up close to Link's face, "Hi! I'm sorry, I didn't really get to introduce myself earlier. I'm Tatl!"

Link smiled and held out his hand, "It's alright. Hello Tatl, my name is Link."

"Well, uh, hi Link." Tatl said staring at Link's hand, wondering how to respond to his offer considering she had none.

Skull Kid interrupted the silence, "So are we going to get out of this place, or what?"

"Not yet," Link said, "we still have to find out where all the monsters are coming from."

"Actually," Tatl piped up, "the monsters infested this place after the dark powder was scattered here, and Daemon's Gerudo servant blocked off the chamber to the silver water pools. The fumes from the water should start to come back up and dissolve the powder, and the monsters won't be attracted to this place anymore. I think it's safe for us to leave."

Link and Skull Kid pushed the boulder out of the cave entrance and the four of them entered the chamber with the Goron Elder once more.

The Elder leaned in, looking at Tatl, "Found a new friend in that cave, did you?"

"No," said Skull Kid, smiling at Tatl, "an old friend."

As Skull Kid lost himself in conversation with Tatl and Tael, Link walked with Darmani and the Elder, "The curse that had drawn monsters to your mine has been lifted. A few Chu-chu's might make their way to that entrance every now and then in the next few days, but other than that you've nothing to worry about."

The Elder bowed to Link, "Thank you, I apologize for putting you through such a trial simply for a place to stay, but you must understand that I have to look out for my people before anyone else."

Link returned the bow, "I understand. Are these two chambers all there is to the Goron Village?"

Darmani shook his head, "No, I'll show you the main hall, it leads to all the different chambers." Darmani lead Link, Skull Kid, and the two fairies through a few halls before coming to a dead end hall with ten doors on the right and ten on the left. "The last door on the right is empty, you are free to occupy it," said Darmani, pointing, "feel free to stay as long as you like."

Link and Skull Kid bowed good-bye to Darmani once again and walked to the room. The inside had three chambers, one large room, a small lavatory, and a small spare room. The main room had five beds on the far side, a huge mirror covering most of one wall, five chests on the opposite wall of the mirror, and a chandelier hanging about twelve feet above their heads.

Skull Kid threw his shield and blade carelessly to the side of the bed he chose and kicked back on it with Tatl and Tael. Link walked over to one of the chests, used the Whistle Blade to carve an M into the one he chose as his, and put his sword, shield, bow, arrows, and rupees into it.

He chose the bed next to Skull Kid's, "Ah, what I tell you, Skull Kid? Everything's going to turn out just fine."

Daemon sat on the edge of the Stone Tower, watching a single Gibdo walk in circles. Vaati had gone to Clock Town for supplies and Drolerif was on the bottom floor, sword training. He looked down at the mask, looked into its eyes, and felt his hatred for Link grow.


	11. The Four Sword Legend

Chapter 11 - The Four Sword Legend

"Vaati, I have an assignment for you," Daemon was walking down a long hall with Vaati, he had sent Drolerif elsewhere, "I left a map giving you directions by the entrance on the first floor. I'm heading into Clock Town, leaving no one to guard the tower, so seal off the entrance when you leave."

Vaati bowed his head to Daemon, "Yes master. When should I leave?"

Daemon looked off to a large wooden clock, making a noise with every rotation, "Two hours after I leave, which happens to be right now."

Leaving Vaati to his own devices, Daemon walked out into the Ikana Canyon. The beating sun was usually hard enough on any form of life that was unlucky enough to wander into the canyon, but it was especially hot as of late. It was one in the morning, the sun had long since disappeared under the horizon, and the heat still lingered in the air.

Daemon walked leisurely all the way from the canyon right into Clock Town. He walked behind the clock tower and pulled a lever that opened the doorway to the top of the tower. Once atop the clock tower, in an empty chamber with no ceiling, Daemon took out the mask and held it up to the moonlight, "Our goals may not be the same," he spoke aloud, "but the paths leading to them could not be closer, Majora."

As if acknowledging Daemon's statement, the huge yellow eyes of Majora's Mask began to glow. Daemon held the mask an inch from his face, hearing the voices again. "Not yet, but soon," he said before putting the mask back in his pocket. He left the clock tower with the door open, and made his way towards the Stock Pot Inn.

"Alright," Link said shaking Skull Kid awake, "we're doing inventory, just a little refresher on everything we got."

Skull Kid rolled over and made a strange noise to signify his distaste towards being up so early, "We got arrows that catch fire, a little money, and a musical sword. There, we're done."

Link pulled Skull Kid out of his bed, "Nice try, now come on, empty pockets."

Skull Kid sighed, keeping his eyes closed as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the Skull Mask, "The shield and knife are over there by the wall," he said pointing, "there, I'm done."

Link walked over to and opened his chest, pulling out the Whistle Blade, Terminian Shield, the bow with its fire arrows, and fifty rupees. In his pocket he found the Romani Mask. Link strapped the sword, shield, and bow on his back, placed twenty-five rupees in his pocket, and put the Romani Mask and last twenty-five rupees in the chest. He closed the chest and headed for the door, "Pick a chest, bring what you think you may need and leave the rest."

Skull Kid nodded and walked over to the row of chests as Link walked out into the hall. Link found Darmani, who directed him to the Goron's fortune teller, telling Link that he may be able to help on the quest. When Link walked into the fortune teller's chamber, the air became thicker and more humid, and the room was barely lit with a dim ball, glowing purple.

A Goron sat on an orange, red, and blue braided rug on the far end of the room, his eyes closed as he spoke, "So you, the human, you were successful in bringing the bloom of Spring back to our little mountain village, were you?"

Link hesitated, taken aback that the teller actually knew this, "Yes, so… you're really psychic?"

"Yes," said the teller, "but I only figured that you had brought the peace back because of the drunken Gorons last night, all chanting 'praise the human, slaying the winter, praise the human, slaying the winter'. It was quite annoying I tell you."

"I apologize." Link bowed his head in respect.

"No, no," the old Goron shook his head quickly, "you've nothing to be sorry for, child. They're right to praise you for what you've done, their celebration just seems a bit crude to me. Now then, what is it you've come to me for? Never mind that, I see it's a long story. I'm sorry to tell you this, but I sense a force keeping me from seeing much, a-"

"Chaotic force?" Link suddenly interrupted, then quickly apologized for.

"Yes," the teller continued, "a chaotic force." He paused for a long time, "I can tell you one thing, you're adversaries, the three of them, they all have their own weaknesses."

Link was sitting before the teller, and leaned back, "Well, I could have guessed that."

The teller went on, "Drolerif, the Hylian Gerudo Fire Lord, though his magic wielding skills exceed that of many, he is every bit a Gerudo as the rest. Daemon, you're being of this world, no matter how much power he hides his face behind, his body remains as frail as yours. Lastly, Vaati, there are tales of this man, the Wind Mage, telling how he can only be brought down by the mythical Four Sword."

Link raised an eyebrow, "That last one raises a bit of a problem. Do you know of any way I am supposed to find the Four Sword?"

The teller was quiet for a moment before continuing, "The Four Sword, like all people and sacred objects, has a copy within this world. The blade in this world possessed no name, and after a time, was stolen from its pedestal by a thief. The thief lost his life in the escape from the blade's resting place, falling victim to an arrow from yet another thief. The blade was dropped into a deep crevice, where it lay for years, until an eruption from the volcano above destroyed the hilt completely, and melted down the blade into a rare, precious, indestructible metal. A merchant eventually found the metal, he was a traveler, and lost his way, accidentally finding himself in the Lost Woods of your world. He was robbed by a being of those woods, and that being worked for days afterwards to forge a whistle, as was a custom of his people when they reached his age. That whistle was later brought back into this land when-"

Link did not interrupt the teller this time, but the look on his face let the teller know that there was no need to go on. "The Four Sword… the precious metal, it's now the Whistle Blade?"

The teller nodded, "The sacred blade, disrupted by beings unworthy of its power, finds its way back to its true form and to its true wielder."

At that moment Skull Kid walked in, "Hey, sorry, I was having trouble deciding between… I missed something important, didn't I?"

"Did your whistle come from a merchant you robbed back in the Lost Woods?" Link asked, still not entirely convinced of the teller's story.

The sudden question caught Skull Kid off guard, but after a moment's hesitation he nodded, "Yeah… why? Is it bad?"

Link smiled and patted Skull Kid on the back after standing back up, "No, it was probably the best thing you ever did. In a sense, you saved this entire world by doing that."

Skull Kid smiled back in pride, "Really? So we have everything we need to take on Daemon and the other two now?"

Link looked back at the fortune teller, silently asking if what Skull Kid assumed was correct. The teller straightened his back for a moment, the few seconds went by excruciatingly long for Link, "No, not exactly. Daemon has left Clock Town, as you have probably guessed, and we have no way of knowing just where he is with my vision being as clouded as it is. I don't know if this is my gift speaking to me, or just my gut, but I suggest you visit the ocean, just west of Clock Town."

Link sighed heavily, "There's just never a quick solution is there?"

Skull Kid shrugged, "I think I'm getting used to it, just like you have." Link smiled before they both thanked the fortune teller and left.

Darmani was waiting for them in the main hall, "Was our fortune teller any help to you?"

"Yes," said Link bowing his head slightly, "he was a great help, thank you. We're headed off to the Western Ocean now, we'll most likely be back by nightfall."

Link, Skull Kid, Tatl, and Tael all made their way into the Northern part of Termina Field. Tael flew to the right and ascended a bit, "I can see the ocean from here, it's not a long walk."

They walked along the beach, with the two fairies hovering overhead, and found themselves in front of a large gate, the bottom half of which was solid without any way to climb it.

Skull Kid kicked the wall in frustration, inevitably regretting it once the pain surged through his foot, "Why is it whenever we get a lead to guide us, something like this just pops up? Is our luck really destined to be that bad?"

Link was only half listening, "I think you spoke too soon Skull Kid." He was looking off in the distance, the silhouette of a small horse was visible running across the field, just in front of the sunrise. "You three hold up here, I'm going to go get that horse."

"You really think that horse is just gonna let you start riding it?" Skull Kid asked.

Link turned and smiled, "I think I know that horse, Skull Kid, and if I do, our luck really is improving."

Link ran at the horse until he was in sound's distance of it and started flinging his sword frantically, the sounds were terribly choppy due to his running, but the horse stopped and turned, as if it recognized the song. Epona came running over to Link, obviously just as excited to see him as he was to see her. Just as they came close enough to each other, a vertical disc of energy sent Link flying.

Daemon walked out of the southern gate of Clock Town, laughing to himself as if Link had just done something extremely funny on purpose, "You would think the supposed 'Hero of Time' would be smarter than to fall victim to a simple bait trap."

Link pushed himself back to his feet, trying to hide the fact that his side was in pain from the searing heat, "A real opponent wouldn't need a cheap trick to get the best of me. Your use of the element of surprise only highlights your weakness."

Daemon glared at Link, "Your words are empty without proof," he drew his blade and pointed it at Link, "your friends can't see you from here, I'm alone. Let's find out who is stronger."

Link also drew his sword and shield, smiling in a mockingly playful way at Daemon, "Yes, let's."


	12. An Immortal's Mortality

*Author's Note - I know I don't usually write an "Author's Note" type deal, but I feel I need to tell you that the reason I haven't uploaded in so long is because I haven't had access to the site until just recently. Also, I'm changing typical chapter length from four pages to five pages*

**Chapter 12 - An Immortal's Mortality -**

Skull Kid leaned against the gate with the two fairies, "Link's been gone longer than you'd think it'd take him, don't you think?"

"Yeah," said Tael, "Maybe we should go check on him?"

"Who is that guy anyway?" asked Tatl. "He certainly seems confident."

Skull Kid shrugged, "From what I've heard, it seems like he's been through worse. People keep calling him 'hero' and whatnot. He's probably still chasing that horse like a madman, let's go find him."

Link leaned back, feeling the air of yet another swipe from Daemon's sword stream across his face. He held up the Terminian shield, letting Daemon hack at it a couple times before pushing him back. "How many more hits do you think it'll be before your blade dulls over?" Link asked this with a broad smile, knowing Daemon's reaction would be priceless.

Daemon stopped for a second, looking at Link, then lunged at him again, "Whether it be sharp as a Ghoma's pincers, or dull as a Moblin's brain, my sword will find its resting place in your throat!"

Link jumped sideways as Daemon stabbed at him, using his shield to bat Daemon's sword away, "Oh, touchy today are we?" They clashed blades for a moment, then stopped and looked at each other, both trying their best not to look exhausted. Link remembered their last fight, on the roof of the Stockpot Inn, Daemon had tired him away much quicker than this, either Link was getting stronger or Daemon was getting weaker.

Daemon looked off to his right, "Don't have the guts to fight me yourself, Link?"

Link glanced where Daemon was looking, Skull Kid and the two fairies were running to him. "Wait," Link called out to them, they had yet to see Daemon's power, "go back!"

Daemon took perfect advantage of Link's distraction and swung his sword swiftly. At first Link felt a thin strip of cold along his right side, then the cold started to sting and burn. He looked down, his green tunic was stained with a streak of red.

"That's a lot of blood," Link said, dumbfounded at first, then it hit him just how badly Daemon had gotten him, "that's a lot of _my_ blood." Link didn't know if his eyes were closed or not, but everything went black and he felt the air rush against his face before his body met the ground. He could here Daemon and Skull Kid's voices in the distance. Link could make out they were saying fine, but he was too lost for his brain to process exactly what the words meant.

Skull Kid looked at the fallen Link, "Is he… dead?" It was the only thought that came to his mind, that Link had been cut down and he was to blame. Both Tatl and Tael were knocking against Skull Kid's shoulders, yelling at him that he needed to run back to the Goron village. Skull Kid looked up at Daemon, who was walking towards Skull Kid with his sword pointed forward and laughing. Skull Kid didn't hear the laugh. Skull Kid couldn't hear anything.

"I just struck down the 'Hero of Time'! Yet you stand before me without cringing? Without screaming?" Daemon was smiling, enjoying yelling at the frozen Skull Kid. "What a pathetic creature you are, Link is a mere child, yet he was chosen to bring down Ganondorf, the King of Evil! You, they call you Skull Kid, the same name given to rest of your kind. You've never even been given a proper name!"

Daemon was done torturing the Skull Kid verbally, and decided to finish him off. He held the Razor Sword with his index finger and thumb and threw it at Skull Kid. The blade whistled as it flew through the air, the high pitched sound brought Skull Kid out of his trance, and he ducked just in time. Daemon watched, his face emotionless, as the sword kept flying through the air, landing in patch of tall grass far away in Termina Field.

Daemon took his vision away from where the sword landed, knowing he'd have to look for hours maybe, before finding it again. He just looked at Skull Kid, letting his anger build, then he jumped at Skull Kid, holding his throat firmly between his hands. Tael stopped being scared immediately, and started beating against Daemon's back, trying to save his friend.

Lying on his front, Link turned his head toward where all the noise was coming from. Tatl was ringing right in his ear, and in the distance he could see Daemon on top of Skull Kid. Trying to stand up, Link pushed himself to his hands and knees. He looked back up at the two struggling, and at that very moment an arrow whizzed between them. Daemon jerked his head to the right, his lower lip had been grazed by the arrow. Link looked to left, there was a red haired girl holding bow, followed closely by her older sister, it was Romani and Cremia!

Tatl and Tael flew quickly, hitting Daemon upside his head. He looked around, Skull Kid was standing with his knife and buckler shield at the ready, both Romani and Cremia had bows aimed at him, the two fairies were obviously being fueled by adrenaline, and Link was starting to stand back up, however weakly.

Daemon frowned, "I can't risk it now. Sooner or later Link, you'll have to face me, and when it's just you and me, the odds won't be in your favor." Daemon disappeared, a dark purple mist left where he was standing.

Link tried standing up, but fell to his side yet again, reality fading away. Eventually, Link passed out completely. After what felt like hours of dreams, filled with memories of Hyrule, Zelda, Malon, Kakariko, and everything else his life once was, Link awoke to the feel of the back of Romani's cool hand against his forehead. He tried sitting up, but the stinging in his side stopped him.

"No, no, no," Romani said hastily, "shh, slowly now." She helped him ease his way back to resting on his back. "Romani doesn't want you moving till Sis says it's okay, okay?" Link slowly nodded his head, but jerked suddenly when she clapped her hands together loudly, "Romani said _no moving_!" She laughed heartily, "I'll go get Sis!"

Once again, Link was left in silence, left to sort things out in his head. He looked around, wary of Romani coming in and seeing him moving, he did his best to only move his eyes. He was lying in a bed, that was for sure, but who's? Where could he possibly be? Hopefully not Clock Town, where everyone either hated Daemon for being Daemon or hated Link for pretending to be Daemon.

"How is it," Cremia started as she walked into the room, "wherever there's trouble, there's you? And furthermore, how come you look exactly like Daemon? Are you his brother or something?"

Link shook his head, still feeling too queasy to speak. Romani sped past her older sister and jumped up on the stool beside the bed, "Romani can take good care of him!" She started quickly wiping sweat and dirt away from Link's face with a cold, wet, cloth.

Cremia continued, "If you're not brothers… ah, never mind. I've never seen anyone go up against Daemon like that for that long," she paused a moment, "I've never seen anyone brave enough to go up against Daemon for that matter."

Link raised an eyebrow at Romani, silently asking her for permission to speak, the girl giggled and nodded. Link finally spoke, though it hurt his throat, "It's not like running was an option, was it? By the way, can I ask where I am? Still in Termina, right?"

Cremia nodded, "You're at Romani Ranch, right in the South-West corner of Termina field."

Romani smiled widely, "I was named after the Ranch!"

"Well, thank you," Link said finally, "but we really have to be going-"

"Oh, no," Cremia said flatly, pushing Link onto his back, "you're not leaving till that wound heals."

Starting to become irritated at how often people were pushing him back, Link looked off to a clock on the wall, rotating with every second, "But there's not much… time… left." He quieted down halfway through his sentence, knowing full well Cremia wasn't about to let him leave.

Cremia and Romani left Link with Skull Kid and the two fairies. Tael kept talking to Tatl about how he was _'so ready to beat that Daemon Dirtbag to the ground' _while Skull Kid talked with Link.

It was early morning when Link awoke, Skull Kid was kneeling by his bed, fast asleep. Link sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, feeling where the wound should be in the tear in his tunic, there was nothing but a scar. He remembered how bad the stab had been, and wondered just how Cremia had managed to heal him so well. His side still ached when he walked, but he could easily push through that.

Skull Kid, Tatl, and Tael were roaming the farm, obviously restless to leave, while Link and Cremia leaned against the wall of the house, watching Romani relentlessly chased a grasshopper. "She's a bit… different, huh?" Link asked, cocking his head to the side like a dog as Romani made another futile pounce at the grasshopper.

Cremia smiled, "She's always got some energy to exert, but it's always in good spirit, she would never hurt a soul. I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with her, she's told me before that she knows she shouldn't refer to herself in third person, but prefers it anyways."

Link watched as Romani made yet another futile pounce, "She's certainly one of a kind."

Cremia sighed, looking up at the sky, "It's a shame really, she's usually so much more energetic and playful than this." Link had a hard time imagining Romani being more hyperactive than she already was. "It seems that ever since the heat wave hit Termina, her health hasn't been the best."

Link looked up at the sky, at the orange sun, "Don't worry, I'm sure the wave will pass. Eventually."

Cremia saw him looking up, "Daemon's… using that. Isn't he?"

Link brought his sight back down to Romani, sighing, "Yeah. I'm not sure how, but yes."

"Alright," Cremia said, "I guess now is as good a time as any for you guys to get going, huh?" She turned, "Come on into the house, we'll get your things." Link called out to Skull Kid and the two fairies, Cremia called out to Romani, "Are you coming, Romani?" Romani had caught the grasshopper, and was holding it while looking up with a black stare on her face, her mouth slightly hanging open. She shook her head. "Alright," Cremia said, "don't look at the sun, sweetie."

As Link and the rest entered the house, he looked at the rotating clock, "I was only out for a single night, right?"

Cremia nodded, "Of course, some Chateau Romani and a good night's sleep, you're good to go."

Link thanked Cremia one last time before gathering his things with Skull Kid, "Alright, let's get going to the ocean like we planned."

It was at that moment a scream from outside was heard, "Sis!"

"Oh Gods, no!" Cremia pushed past Link and stormed out of the room.

Link tightened his grip on his sword and shield, "Looks like we're not quite done here, Skull Kid, let's go."

Running outside, the five of them were enveloped in a shadow that completely covered the whole ranch. A huge metal disc hovered above them, a green beam of light shot down from the center of it, landing directly on Romani.

"What in the…?" Skull Kid stared at the strange flying object, his mouth gaping in awe.

"No!" Cremia screamed, shooting arrow after arrow at the disc as Romani was lifted up into the air. The arrows simply bounced off the metal, none sticking, none leaving even a dent.

"Skull Kid, come on!" Link yelled, running at the beam.

"What!" Skull Kid awkwardly and uncertainly jogged behind Link, "Are you completely insane?"

"Yep." It was Link's only reply before he jumped grabbing onto Romani. The two fairies flew in after him, and finally, Skull Kid jumped up and grabbed Link's boot. In seconds, all of them disappeared, and the green light was faded.

Cremia was left to stand underneath the darkness of the disc, waiting for Link and the others. Waiting for the safe return of her sister.


End file.
